BlackRock Inc.’s Laurence D. Fink, who heads the world’s largest asset manager, said U.S. lawmakers need to provide more certainty about spending and tax policy as European leaders grapple with deficits.

“Our politicians are guardians too, and they’re not acting in ways that guardians should,” Fink said in an interview on Bloomberg Television’s “Market Makers” with Erik Schatzker and Trish Regan. “Europe is a great wake-up call and they’re still snoring away.”

The U.S. is facing a so-called fiscal cliff at the end of the year when automatic spending cuts would begin and tax cuts will expire without action by a U.S. Congress that has been mired in political disputes.

Fink said employers including defense contractors will be discouraged from investing in their operations until lawmakers signal how they’ll proceed.

“We need more clarity, and that is my message to every politician I see,” said Fink. “It’s all about confidence. No one is investing for tomorrow.”

Fink, 59, is chairman and chief executive officer of New York-based BlackRock.